Chapter 145: A Respite From Adventuring VII (1/2)

I plopped my head down on the worktable in the kitchen and rolled Yukikaze around.

「Aaah, I can't think of any good ideas」

『Have you reached your limit, indeed?』

「I’ve reached my limit, indeed」

I had thrown some random ingredients into a pot and left it simmering away, but I don't think I can make a ramen broth that will impress anyone. It'll probably turn out to be just an ordinary broth.

『Isn't that fine? Your existing cooking skills are more than helpful enough for your adventures』

「Is it okay if I give up now, I wonder?」

『It's okay, indeed. Team member Souya, you have a strangely strong sense of professionalism and you're terrible at loosening up. For something like ramen broth, simply throw enough salt into vegetable broth and it’ll be just fine』

「No, that's problematic in its own right, isn’t it?」

Your cooking sense scares me, you know that?

「Ummm……」

I was startled by a voice from behind me.

Turning around, I found Rutsuko-san and the Gunmerrys.

「I'm sorry………………In a lot of ways, I'm sorry」

She had become so depressed that she looked like she had lost some weight.

「Oh, no no no, I did win the bread contest in the end. You accepted my request on short notice and baked bread for me so early in the morning, so there's nothing for you to apologize for」

If anything, I'll have to give her a big ”thank-you” reward. That perverted baldy………I'm going to tell on you to your daughter that you tried to get my friend to become your mistress.

「I wonder if working people like Souya-san and myself are going to get killed off?」

「What are you talking about?」

Why on earth would we get killed off?

「Because! We were so rude to the king. In an anime I saw a long time ago, there was a guy who got thrown into a pit just for making a pun in front of the king! ………He probably died from that」

Which anime is that?

「Rutsuko-san, don't worry. I once snuck into that king's bedroom and drove my sword into his pillow. But look, I'm still alive, right?」

「Hearing that makes me all the more worried!」

Ehhh.

「Don't worry. That king, if there's someone he’s displeased with, I'm sure he'll go and kill them personally」

「NOOOoooo!」

Rutsuko-san was trembling like a small animal.

Somehow or another, she's starting to look like an otter to me.

「Think of something! Souya-san! Think of something that’ll make the king happy! It seemed like he was pleased with the bread, but is there anything else?!」

Oh, what if by any chance………

「King Lemuria really liked the randomly-made ramen I cooked some time ago. As a result, I'm now trying to making ramen on the king's orders. I'm having a hard time with the broth though, so do you have any suggestions?」

「My mom's family runs a ramen store」

Jackpot!

「Goddess………」

「Eh?」

I grabbed Rutsuko-san's hand without thinking.

「The goddess of ramen!」

「Eh? Eh?」

The second day of making the ramen broth, morning session.

Rutsuko-san looked through every inch of the food storage and……

「It's no good」

……she said dryly. She decided to head out and go to the dungeon.

Together with the Gunmerrys, I went with her.

The destination was the 3rd floor of the Odoriji spire.

It was a safe but gory slaughterhouse.

The valuable bodies and corpses of monsters are brought here to be processed before being given back to the adventurers. Even materials that can be easily carried by individuals must clear quarantine here before they can be taken out of the dungeon.

In addition, most of the meat consumed in Lemuria is supplied by the butchering department here.

Another department here is the processing department, where monster bones, shells, and other materials that can be used as building materials or made into weapons and armor are processed.

There's also the medicinal department, which produces medical supplies and potions using the monsters' bodily fluids and excretions, as well as plants from the dungeon.

Then there's the research department that studies and analyzes unknown materials to determine if they'll have any impact on the city. There are several more smaller departments, but I don't know anything about them.

The bounty of the dungeon cannot be wasted, so the employees of the Adventurers' Guild work day and night here.

But no matter how many times I come here, I still find it a strange place.

The goods for sale are completely different from those in the city above.

Hanging from the eaves of stores and in the stalls are all sorts of monster bones, skins, scales, shells, fangs, claws, wings, eyes, tongues, ears, intestines, and brains. All in all, the lineup of products sold here is both very grotesque and fresh.

Since it's inside the dungeon, it's dimly lit, which makes it feel even more eerie.

And for whatever reason, the designs of the stores here consist of bones and flesh in shades of gray and pink………In short, they look pretty gross.

As an intermediate adventurer, I can commission things from the craftsmen here. But as Otou-san had mentioned before, many of them are eccentric people. I've never asked them to do any work for me because I don't trust them.

When commissioning weapons or armor, one is entrusting one's life to the craftsmen. I can't rely on their reputation, and I don't have the time to get to know them.

Well, because I have Makina and the dwarf-san, I may never have to worry about this.

「Souya-san」

「Yes?」

We had arrived at our destination, the butchering department. I had only been here once before to help out with something the merchant company needed.

Rutsuko-san looked unusually serious, so I answered her seriously.

「I'm rather shy, so please talk to the storekeeper for me」

「………Okay」

Now that I think about it, that's right.

Your facial expression is the only part of you that's fired up, huh?

「Sorry(excuse me)」

「What are you sorry for? What did you do?」

I misspoke, and got glared at by the middle-aged storekeeper.

Along with the Gunmerrys, Rutsuko-san hid behind my back.

「I want some dungeon pig bones」

「Bones? You'll find those in the processing department. Not here」

「No, what I'm looking for are just normal unprocessed bones」

「Then we've got some, but they're all stuff we were going to throw away though」

「May I have a look?」

「Uhhh, what do you guys want them for?」

This middle-aged guy is a pain in the ass. This isn't going to earn him any money, so I do understand why he doesn’t feel like entertaining us, but what should I do?

Offering money to a person with a peculiarly strong artisanal spirit can have an adverse effect.

Oh, I know.

「To tell you the truth, I'm trying to develop a new dish at the request of the flame religion, so if it won’t interfere with your work, I'd like to take a look」

「The flame religion………」

I brought out the name of the flame religion as a test. Considering how influential it was, I figured that I should be able to hook someone with it.

「My old man's a follower. Now that I know that, I can't just dismiss you out of hand. Come on, they're in the back. It stinks though」

I walked through the store of the butchering department and went out the back door.

I almost gagged at the strong smell of blood.

It was a strange sight. There was what looked like a pool of flesh in one area, with lots of bones sticking out of it.

「What is this?」

「This is the flesh wall of the dungeon」

Flesh wall?

「Parts of the Odoriji spire are biological. Hidden within the dungeon’s walls, it grows then forces its way out of the structure. Even the hardest dungeon pig bones will get dissolved without a trace in three days and become nourishment for it. After that, it goes round and round within the dungeon and forms into new monsters. Or at least, that's the rumor. No one has actually seen it happen though」

That's kinda scary……

「Rutsuko-san, what do you think?」